‘OUR DAD WASN’T A PSYCHO’ Jackie Jackson on his famous family
The legendary singer on success, family tragedy and his band’s enduring legacy
From practising in the living room to performing in packed-out stadiums, the Jackson family has been through it all, but now, nine years after the death of its most famous member, Michael, WHO caught up with the late King of Pop’s eldest brother, Jackie Jackson, ahead of the Jackson 5’s Australian tour in January 2019.
Are you excited to bring this tour to Australia?
I guess we always look forward to coming to Australia because we don’t come there often.
Do you have any plans for while you’re here?
Not a whole lot planned. One thing we love doing is the concert, and we love performing there because people love to hear the music, they love to dance … it’s like oil to our engines.
What’s on the set list?
We try to do all the hits we can, because we have a lot of music and we try to do as many songs as possible. We also do a tribute to Michael on stage because he was a very intricate part of our group. He’s no longer with us but his spirit is always around and we show pictures of him on stage with us. The audience cheers us on, its definitely a family show, there’s a lot of laughter as well.
What’s your secret? How can one family be so talented?
I don’t know! God blessed us with that … it’s something we all wanted to do. As youngsters we wanted to be entertainers. My father saw that in us and it was his job as well as my mum’s to coach that talent. It’s important if you have kids, when you see them playing soccer and they’re pretty good it’s your
job to make sure they practise. You have to give them that support, and that’s what they did.
How are you doing after the death of your father, Joe?
We’re doing OK. Right after we buried him, we were out on tour the very next day. It’s something he wanted us to do, not just sit there and mourn his loss. We got out there and did what we do best and that was healing for us. We’ll never forget our dad, he means a lot to us.
He was in the headlines a lot, but how big a role did your dad play in your success?
When I look back at it now, my mum was the one who first discovered we had talent, and she told my father about it and he saw it and he bought us instruments to play. We would practise four times a week for two hours – and the thing about it was we loved doing it. We had a great time performing. Plus we had our chores and played sports outside with our friends as well, but when I look back at it, he did the right thing. At the time, the neighbourhood we grew up in was in bad shape. There was a lot of gang violence and stuff like that. Right now, a lot of the friends I grew up with are dead. And we’re still here, performing around the world doing what we do best. And my father kept us out of that trouble, out of that gang violence. So I thank him for that.
Do you still see Michael’s children?
I saw them two weeks ago! They’re doing great, all the nieces and nephews are doing well.
Paris Jackson is making a name for herself as a model. Are you proud of her?
Oh yes, she’s doing exactly what her father would do. She does a lot for the [Elizabeth] Taylor Foundation – something her dad would want her to do. She’s out there giving back to the people.
What’s next for the Jacksons?
We’ll continue what we’re doing, touring the world and just making people happy through music.
Which is your favourite song to perform?
“I Want You Back” – I love that song, it’s what put us on the map. Michael always loved it too; he used to sing it all the time.
As a father, are you nurturing your children the way your dad did with you?
Yeah, I take my sons to soccer practice and try to give them as much support as possible. That’s what I’m supposed to do. You never know they could turn out to be something, but you’ve got to give them a chance.
You’re the eldest brother; did you feel more pressure to succeed? Or to make sure everyone was OK?
This industry is not an easy industry, it has its ups and downs. A lot of people don’t make it, but we made it around the world, we made our name a brand – so we’ve done pretty good. We’re in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; I think our family has done pretty well ... I did have more pressure because I was the eldest of the brothers. My job was to be like a guardian to them at that particular time. Now they’re all grown men, so I don’t have to do that any more!
The world was shocked when Michael died – how do you mark the anniversary of his death?
A lot of people look at Michael as a great entertainer, we just look at him as our brother. It’s horrible when you lose a sibling in the family. And that’s how we take it. We just play his music. As a matter of fact, I don’t have to play it myself, no matter where we go, whether it’s the radio in the car, people are playing it all over the world.
Is there something you wish the world knew about Michael?
When you become as big as Michael, people are always going to get some controversy to follow you, but some wonderful things are also said. I just want people to know that he’s the type of guy who cared about people. He cared about human beings. He cared about his fans. He was a humanitarian, he cared about his own kids, and he loved them dearly. He’s the type of guy, if he had a special car and you wanted it, he would give it to you – he was just very generous like that, I miss that about him. I miss him just a person and as a brother.